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Living costs
One of the more commonly asked questions regarding Costa Rica are living costs. People want to move here or stay extended periods, and want to know how much they should set aside in order to survive. Costa Rica is in no way an inexpensive country. It's known to be one of the more expensive places to live in Central America. Stuff that you might think is dirt cheap here, really isn't. As anywhere, living costs will depend on your particular lifestyle and preferences. The following sections show some estimates, which are exactly that: rough estimates. Any one of these can be completely thrown off just by factoring in expenses such as specialty medical requierements (for example specialty prescriptions or treatments you might require), incorporating a car into the mix, or having kids factor in. So take it with a grain of salt. What basic expenses are Basic expenses are considered stuff you need to satisfy your basic requirements for integral living. That means you factor in your shelter, your food, your health, clothing and also take precautions for any stuff you might have left out while calculating. It also means you spend comfortably: you don't splurge for top of the line luxury brand stuff, but you don't go dumpster diving either. If you're planning on living more than a few months here, you'll probably want to plan under the basic expenses concept. Remember the more time you spend here, the more you'll be exposed to what other people prefer, and the more you'll tend to scale up your own preferences. And also, the more time you spend here, the more probable it is you'll need to make a large medical or unpredicted expense of some sort. Be here a month, you probably won't worry too much about the flu. Be here 6 months, and you're going to come down with the flu sooner or later. Get the picture? You can tweak basic expenses up or down a bit, depending on your preference. But you shouldn't redline, that is, bring them down to irrational levels. If you say you're going to cut $50 off your monthly supermarket bill, I say ok it might work. If you say you're going to cut your supermarket bill in half and grow all the stuff you need in flowerpots at home... why not just buy a bow and arrow and shoot that pig that just went flying by? Basic living expenses for 1 person Let's say you want to move here by yourself, living in your own apartment. Typical scenario for those starting out here or trying out to see if they like it. You get around by bus, live in the metro area, and have no really unusual expenses. It's going to go more or less like this: (Costs in US Dollars, per month) So living by yourself, travelling by bus, and taking care of all the basic costs and previsions you'd normally have, you're going to be spending around $1.700 per month.If you share your apartment with another person, that's going to cut your rent and services. You could probably tweak these expenses down to about $1.200 per month if you really try, but I don't think you could sustain it for very long like that. House instead of apartment If you want to rent a house, you'll be paying anywhere from $800 to $1.500 per month, depending on where you choose and the number of bedrooms. $1.200 to $1.500 is the price you normally see for 3 bedroom houses in upscale areas like Escazu. Below that, most 3 bedroom houses in the central metro area run for about $1.000 per month, and outside the central metro area is where you find $800 per month prices. Sometimes you find houses with services included in the price, but typically you have to pay at least for you electric bill, cable TV and internet. Owning a car Cars are expensive to buy and own here. Everything related to cars is heavily taxed and overpriced, including the cars themselves. A liter of premium unleaded gas is currently going for about $1.50, which translates to $5.50 a gallon, and every month prices are readjusted, generally they climb. Decent used cars you can find starting at around $8.000. Below that, you get cars that are prone to frequent breakdowns and increased maintenance costs. New cars start at around $15.000 for the smaller compacts, 25.000 for small SUV s and $30.000 and above for pickup trucks and larger SUVs. For the sake of estimating, your average car operating costs, including gas, insurance, basic maintenance and replacing things as they wear down will run about $0.60 - $0.70 per km, depending on the size and make of the car, as well on the conditions its driven in. Fuel economy is minimal here, as all urban roads are crowded and in terrible conditions. The only real scenario in which you could consider you'd get highway mpg on a car, is if you're driving on the highways, completely outside the greater metro area. Annual certification is a process all cars have to go through in order to circulate. It costs $20, and involves inspecting brakes, suspension, chasis, and emissions. Note that the cost of inspection is small, but in order to pass it you car has to be in decent shape. Getting your car in shape is the problem, since it often involves a trip to the mechanic and the associated costs. Circulation tax depends on the current value of your vehicle. It's hard to estimate, since if you have a 2003 compact, tax is going to be radically different from a 2007 SUV, and radically different from a 2007 SUV which falls into tourist vehicle category. If I were to guesstimate, I'd say your average car will pay about $500-$700 in circulation tax. Tax is due every year, by December 31st. Traffic violations are another important cost factor in owning a car. Parking violations will cost you around $10 per incident. Minor traffic violations such as not having your car's property certificate on hand, driving on days your license plate number is restricted, tailing, etc. will cost you about $200. Speeding tickets are, at their minimum, around $500. And for major traffic violations (driving drunk, speeding over 120 kph, driving without a license), you'll be fined $750. (These amounts include taxes on traffic tickets, which amount to about 30%) Medical expenses Medical expenses are another big cost you have to factor in. If you're young and have no permanent afflictions, you'll only need medical services occasionally. If you're older, and suffer from chronic conditions, your medical expenses are going to be much higher. There's free state medical services, provided to workers that pay social security costs. But don't count on them. They're overcrowded and will pretty much solve only minor conditions. Getting a chronic condition, surgical procedure, or major intervention treated through state services is a process that takes many years, hours and hours of eternal lines, and all under low quality service standards. Your average doctor's visit will cost you about $50, not including prescriptions. Most people will find filling their prescriptions at the pharmacy costs about $50 on average, if you require only typical prescription medications. So, figure about $100-$150 cost for each incident that requires a visit to the doctor. Private emergency medical attention and surgery are pretty expensive, and can easily run well over $5.000 per incident. A very good reason to have traveller's insurance and keep it up to date at all times. Dental treatments, such as getting a cavity filled or your teeth cleaned, will usually go for about $50 per visit. More specialized treatments such as root canal, extractions, wisdom teeth, crowns, can run you around $400 each. Education Once again, a difficult cost to estimate. School supplies, textbooks, will all add to the cost of education and make it go up or down, depending on what you choose. Public schools are free. Quality of education varies from school to school. Tuition costs in private schools can go anywhere from $200 per month, to well over $1000 per month, per student. State owned universities have tuition costs of about $300 per semester, though that amount can be reduced through scholarships, which are abundant. State owned universities offer high quality education, but the competition to get in is fierce. Private universities are expensive. Depending on which one you choose, you'll be paying $500 to $1000 tuition, every 4 months.